On May 29, Professor Natalia Lebedeva, Doctor of Biological Sciences, conducted a seminar and delivered a lecture for game managers and rangers on bird monitoring at the Veselovskoye Reservoir for the Manych area, following the transfer of the water area management to the private hunting enterprise "Argamak-R" LLC. Monitoring in this area had been conducted from 1980 to 2022 (42 years) when the territory and water area were managed by the State Experimental Hunting Enterprise. During these years, numerous fundamental and applied research studies and experiments were conducted under scientific supervision. The research enabled effective management of waterfowl resources, preserving the core of the European population of greylag geese in Russia. In 2024, ornithological monitoring in this area was resumed.
Following the seminar, a bird count was conducted at a salt lake where rare species were recorded: the pied avocet (photo 1), black-winged stilt, little curlew (a migratory species), and glossy ibis, as well as common species including the great egret, garganey, shelduck, broods of red-crested pochard (photo 2), and gadwall (listed in the Red Book of Rostov Oblast).
